Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Summer Cooking: Turkish Rice Salad

With summer heat in full swing, I don’t know about
you, but I don’t feel much like cooking. My kitchen is an oven between 4 and 6
p.m., so I try to stay out of there as much as possible. Turkish housewives are
practical; many of them cook in the morning, when it’s cooler, and then they
have food ready for later in the day.I,
on the other hand, am not so organized. So I’m always on the lookout for quick
and easy.

Here’s a simple recipe, great for summertime. Turks
call it “Chinese Rice,” which mystifies me. As far as I know, there’s nothing remotely Chinese
about it.

Turkish Rice Salad (Cin Pilavi*)

1
cup rice

2
cups water

1
tsp. salt

4
TBSP olive oil

¾
cup frozen corn

¾
cup frozen peas

¾
cup carrots, diced in small cubes

1/3
- 1/2 cup dill pickle, diced in small cubes

3
TBSP chopped fresh dill weed (or 1-2 tsp. dried dill)

1. Cook the rice by sautéing it in 1 TBSP olive oil; then
add 2 cups of water and 1 tsp. salt. Let
it simmer 10-15 minutes, until the water is absorbed. Stir to fluff it, and let it cool.

2. Thaw or gently cook the frozen vegetables. (If you live in the U.S., simply thawing them
works fine. If you live in Turkey, these need to be cooked 2-3 minutes.)

3. When the rice and vegetables are at room
temperature, gently toss them together with the chopped carrots, pickles and
dill. Drizzle with 3 TBSP olive oil and continue tossing. Serve cold or at room temperature.

This serves 4-5 as a vegetarian main dish, or 8 as a
side dish. Turks fill a small bowl with the salad and unmold it onto each
individual plate.

Afiyet Olsun!

*I’ll correct “Cin Pilavi” as soon as I find the
Turkish keyboard on my new computer!